Former F1 Champions Critical Of Vettel

Two former F1 world champions are critical of F1’s reigning title winner, Sebastian Vettel.

Sebastian won the 2010 world championship, despite many incidents tarnishing his reputation, such as crashing into Button in Spa, or his behaviour at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve said he recognises the young German’s talent but was less impressed with his overall behaviour this season:

"He's very fast but I feel he has trouble controlling his emotions."
"I saw him raising a finger to the stewards in the pitlane and
I find it hard to comprehend doing that at this level, that's
more like a little kid."
"He's been treated the same for his whole career. At 14, he
knew already that he would be brought into F1.
"When he makes a mistake, he is told 'no, you did nothing
wrong, everything is fine'. We'll see how he reacts now as
a champion."
"Hamilton was a bit like that at first, but after his title,
he had a bad season and this year he was finally a man.
"This year, Vettel stupidly took out Webber but the team said
it was Webber's fault. Let's see what happens is it going to
get worse, or will he get more mature now? If he goes in the
direction of Hamilton then he will win more championships.
Otherwise he will never learn from his mistakes."

The four-time world champion Alain Prost, however, admits he is now a fan of Vettel after spending some time with the Red Bull driver at the recent Race of Champions event:

"He is very young but already very mature, I also see a
freshness, an enthusiasm that I really like. This is not
the case with all young F1 drivers. That's one thing that
surprises me, you don't feel the passion in some drivers,
it's like they're there just for the business. But in
Vettel, I feel the freshness and passion and I hope he
keeps it as long as possible."

Prost also hailed Vettel’s finish to the 2010 championship:

"Like everyone else, I was a bit critical when I saw
the mess he created on some occasions. But in a driver
with such panache and character, it is difficult to
contain. After August, I saw a radical change. Then,
without the incident in Korea, he would have won all
of the last four races. He is a great champion, there
is no doubt, You might have judged differently in the
middle of the season, but at the end, we can say 'bravo'."

Valid point by Villeneuve, but regardless of what happened in the season Vettel was leading the championship at the end of the last race because he – like Prost said – almost won all of the last four races. After Spa he has matured in my eyes and will be even harder to beat next year.

Vettel’s secret is getting Pole position and then being able to make it stick with his superior car. If he starts in the first 10 then he will not win, he is very prone to mistakes and arrogance when he has drivers in front of him. How many times did he win by coming from the pack this season ?